From 7 to 8 September 2010 the global centre of the green and sustainable maritime industry will be held simultaneously[ds_preview] with the SMM, the world’s premier shipbuilding fair in Hamburg that takes place from 7 to 10 September 2010. Visitors from all parts of the world will have the opportunity to attend both the high-calibre conference and the trade fair. gmec 2010 will be opened jointly with SMM on the evening of 6 September. Both events will be under the patronage of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The keynote speaker for the Opening Ceremony will be Efthimios Mitropoulos, Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The Chairmen are Micky Arison (Chairman & CEO of Carnival Corporation, the world’s largest cruise ship group); Spyros Polemis (Chairman of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS)) and Dr. Corrado Antonini (Chairman of Fincantieri, the largest Italian shipbuilding company).
Ambitious subjects on five panels
The welcome address to conference participants will be given by Prof. Dr. Peter Sloterdijk, a well known German philosopher, television host and cultural scientist. At the Climate Conference in Copenhagen at the end of 2009 he emphasised that »the only hope for the environment is from technical developments, where the last word is yet to be spoken«. This can also be applied to gmec 2010, which presents the status quo of maritime environmental protection in the framework of five Panels. After the opening ceremony,
Panel 1 will be launched by David Dingle, CEO of Carnival UK, a subgroup of Carnival Corporation. He starts by asking the rhetorical and emotional question »Why shipping?« We can expect some good answers to that from his panellists Prof. Dr. Martin Stopford, Managing Director of Clarkson Research Studies, and Martin Landtman, President of the shipyard group STX Finland. After all, 97 % of global trade is carried by sea – thereby producing only 3 % of global emissions. It was shipping which made it possible to develop countries and continents in the first place; without it, globalisation would not have been conceivable. Of course it also has social significance, starting with the building of the ships, a point that will be highlighted particularly by Martin Landtman.
Panel 2 is dedicated to maritime environmental legislation. It focuses on regional and international emission regulations, which are having more and more impact on shipping. The rules are getting tougher, especially for fuels and underwater coatings. What regulations are already in force, and what legislative developments are coming up in the next few years? What is the role played by the International Maritime Organization IMO and by MARPOL, the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships? The Panel will be chaired by Dr. Hermann J. Klein, Chairman of the International Association of Classification Societies Ltd (IACS) and a Member of the Management Board of Germanischer Lloyd. First-hand information on the current and future MARPOL limits will be given by Andreas I. Chrysostomou, Chairman of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC). Other panellists will be Dr. Simon Walmsley, Marine Manager International Shipping & Marine Governance of the WWF; Monika Breuch-Moritz, President of the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency; and Peter Swift, Managing Director of Intertanko, the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners.
Panel 3 is chaired by Spyros Polemis, Chairman of ICS (the International Chamber of Shipping). It draws up an environmental inventory of the maritime industry and discusses requirements for greener shipping. The main emphasis is on the technical state of the art and current innovations. The other panellists are Clay Maitland, Founding Chairman NAMEPA –
North American Marine Environment Protection Association; Tor Svensen, COO of the Norwegian classification society DNV; Masahiro Samitsu, Corporate Officer & General Manager Environment Group of the Japanese shipping company NYK Line; and Jamie Sweeting, Vice President Environmental Stewardship of Royal Caribbean International.
Presentations with best practice examples on the second conference day
The second day of gmec 2010 starts with update presentations on marine equipment, naval shipbuilding, offshore and the superyacht sector, and presents best-practice solutions. Speakers include Ernst-Christoph Krackhardt, Chairman of EMEC (European Marine Equipment Council), who will present the Green Ship Technology Book.
Panel 4 addresses the impact of shipping on people, and on flora and fauna on shore. For example in port by the emissions from operation of auxiliary machinery, by the building, repair or conversion of ships at shipyards, or by the hinterland transportation to and from the ports generated by freight ships – all these activities affect not only the coastal strips. This panel therefore addresses the interactions, which are so often neglected, between sea and land, and between ship and port. It is chaired by Emanuele Grimaldi, CEO of the Italian Grimaldi Group. In his keynote address, Emanuele Grimaldi presents the »Motorways of the Seas« concept, for transfer of goods from road to coastal ships and ferries, which are much better for the environment. Alfons Guinier, Secretary-General of ECSA, the European Community Shipowners’ Association, will analyse the challenges in reduction of emissions of all kinds. The issue of pollutant emissions will be covered in more detail by Matthias Ruete, Director-General of the Directorate-General for Energy and Transport of the European Commission. Environmental issues of port infrastructure will be analysed by Eddy Bruyninckx, Managing Director of the Antwerp Port Authority.
Approaching ship design for the future
Panel 5 will address »Ship design for the future«. It will focus on the classic issues such as optimal ship design, more efficient propulsion systems, automation of ship operation, and alternative propulsion systems. And the man / machine interface will also be a key subject in this panel. In many environmental issues, it is the people and not the engineering that are most important, for example in implementation of smart route planning, and improvement of port logistics. Panel Chairman Tom Boardley, Marine Director of the British classification society Lloyd’s Register, will discuss the issues with Bo Cerup-Simonsen, Vice-President Maritime Technology of the major Danish shipping line A.P. Møller-Maersk; Bob Bishop, CEO of the ship management company V.Ships from the Isle of Man; Prof. Dr. (h.c.) Kai Levander of SeaKey Naval Architecture, Finland; and Vince Jenkins, Global Marine Risks Advisor, also from Lloyd’s Register.
»Protect our oceans!«
The closing statement at gmec 2010 comes from Dr. Sylvia Earle, a globally recognised protagonist of maritime environmental protection. She has taken part in more than 70 ocean expeditions for National Geographic, including one in 1970 when she spent two weeks in an underwater habitat, in a project with funding from NASA. She has received more than 100 honours
and awards for her achievements and commitment as an oceanographic researcher. She will report here on her expeditions, and launch an urgent appeal to all gmec participants for immediate measures to be taken to protect the oceans. gmec will in future be held in Hamburg every two years, always in parallel with SMM. Further information on the conference and on registration and participation is given at the website www.gmec-hamburg.com.
Understanding the rules and regulations for maritime environmental protection
Shipping is the most international of all means of transport – and the legislation, regulations and requirements for environment friendly maritime shipping are correspondingly global. The current and future legal framework conditions are the subject of the first ever maritime environment summit, »gmec – global maritime environmental congress«, to be held at Congress Center Hamburg (CCH) on September 7 and 8, 2010. Maritime legislation involves a large number of international organisations and bodies, and the regulations look confusing at first sight. The International Maritime Organization IMO has to find a common denominator for the interests of as many as 169 member states. Its central set of regulations is the MARPOL Convention (73/78, International Convention for the Prevention of Marine Pollution from Ships), with its six Annexes setting out the rules and procedures to deal with the main sources of pollution from shipping. There is also a great deal of regulative activity by the individual member states of the EU and by numerous regional bodies, to set a binding basis for environmental protection in maritime transport. These initiatives in turn create important foundations for the work of IMO. For example, Germany played a major part in the revision of MARPOL Annex VI (Air Pollution), which provides for a substantial reduction of the sulphur content in marine diesel fuel from the current average level of 2.7 % to 0.5 % by 2020. There are also designated SOx emission control areas, where the maximum permitted sulphur content from 2015 onwards is 0.1 % – an important initiative for stepwise reduction of air pollution at sea, by use of low-emission distillates.
»Why shipping – the importance of the shipping industry in the past, present and future«
David Dingle will present answers to the above question in Panel 1 and Martin Stopford and Martin Landtmann are going to lead the audience through the item with a closer look at the actual meaning of the sense of shipping. Especially the cruise industry has developed to provide a luxurious and leisurely atmosphere to its passengers in an otherwise hostile – and sometimes dangerous – environment. Unless people are living close to ports or in a coastal area or being directly connected to the industry the majority of people does hardly realise the meaning of the seas to their lives. With about 75 % of the earth being covered by water the seven oceans are representing a vast area for the seaborne trade. Whilst in the early times the sea separated the continents the progress and skill of the shipbuilding industry together with courageous seafarers led to the today’s situation that the world is being closely connected through very vital shipping lanes. Despite of the inauguration of the airplane about one hundred years ago ships are the main-bearers of worldwide cargo flow – with passengers since about fifty years ago mainly use it now for pleasure trips (except when travelling by ferries in coastal areas or where no bridges are available). Pundits declare about 90 % (more or less) of the world trade today is moved by sea. The public mainly does only take note of the industry when tragic catastrophes at sea are being reported by the media while the majority of the people are unaware of the fact that 99 % of the traffic at sea is being conducted without any serious incidents. And that is quite remarkable as an estimated world fleet of 53,000 ships of 170 participating countries are transporting more than 8 billion tons of cargoes each year– not speaking about the one million employees in this industry with around 250,000 seafarers that keep the ships going. Only during the past 25 years based on ton-miles the sea traffic has doubled.
A forum for exchange of ideas, essential for international environmental requirements
Shipping is already the most sustainable means of transport there is. No other means of transport can carry as many goods with such low input of energy. As much as 97 % of global trade is conducted by sea – producing only 3 % of global emissions. And despite this good performance, the maritime sector is still doing all it can to reduce its environmental footprint still further. »The maritime industry is well aware of its responsibility. It can make a significant contribution to environmental protection. Ship’s engines already have the highest levels of efficiency by comparison across industries. And there are new international environmental requirements which make it essential to exchange ideas. That is why I believe the environmental congress is an excellent idea, and this is exactly the right time to implement it,« says Dr. Hermann J. Klein, Chairman Executive Board Germanischer Lloyd and Vice Chairman IACS – International Association of Classification Societies Ltd.
Dr. Klein is Chairman of Panel 2 at gmec, on »Legislation & the Regulatory Environment”, which addresses exclusively the maritime environmental legislation, and the questions »What regulations are currently in force? What developments in legislation are to be expected in the coming years? And what is the role of IMO and MARPOL in this?« The gmec panel includes Dr. Simon Walmsley, Marine Manager International Shipping & Marine Governance of WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature). He feels there are already some good things in progress, but also room for further improvement – »We already have a whole series of international rules and regulations, such as MARPOL and SOLAS – an area where other industries still have a long way to go. That is a great advantage. But unfortunately not all the shipowners are keeping to them, and in particular not all the flag states are keeping to them. We all have to work together to change that«. WWF is involved in a range of different areas in protection of the maritime environment. That includes advice to shipping lines on environmental issues. »Of course we work in close cooperation with Intertanko and the International Chamber of Shipping and, by the way, we have also been working with the IMO for the past 15 years. We at WWF want to get all the stakeholders together, and to arrive at sensible, environment friendly solutions, with monetary incentives for implementation. For example insurance companies that give more favourable rates to reward ships which are environment friendly and safe.«
Monitoring procedures as a market opportunity for the maritime industry
An insight into the monitoring opportunities to ensure compliance with environmental regulations will be given at gmec 2010 by Monika Breuch-Moritz, President of the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency of Germany (BSH) since mid-2009. She believes there have already been a great many changes and further developments since the first maritime environmental regulations in the 70s, as a result of a number of major environmental disasters. »IMO was able to make substantial progress in the past few years.« But, she adds, it is not enough to draw up regulations and agreements; it is also essential to check them, and to impose sanctions in the event of violation. She attaches great importance to using the right monitoring procedures. For example, computer simulations, aerial monitoring and satellite monitoring are used to track illegal oildischarges to their source and identify the polluter. Such monitoring programmes have led to significant reduction in oil pollution from illegal discharge from merchant vessels in the last 20 years. But further action is still needed, and new methods are being developed to monitor compliance with air pollution regulations. »New monitoring methods and instruments can also provide good market opportunities for the marine equipment industry,« she notes. Other speakers in gmec panel 2 »Legislation & the Regulatory Environment« are Andreas I. Chrysostomou, Chairman of the MEPC Marine Environment Protection Committee at IMO, who will provide first-hand information on current and future MARPOL limits, and Peter Swift, Managing Director von Intertanko, who will talk about developments in tanker transport and give specific details of some best-practice examples.
Technological progress and visions of zero emissions in shipping
The concerns of the shipping industry are coming more and more into harmony. Good economics and good environmental practices no longer conflict with one another – combining the two of them gives a competitive advantage. The contribution that technology can make to environmentally sustainable shipping is a major subject at the global maritime environmental congress gmec, to be held at the Congress Center Hamburg (CCH) on September 7 and 8, 2010. Shipping is already among the most environment friendly means of transport, and shipowners, shipping companies and shipyards are working hard to achieve further improvements in technology to reduce CO2 and NOx, bilge water and noise emissions. After all, shipping still is responsible for 3 % of worldwide emissions of greenhouse gases. How can technological innovations help to deal with these problems? What opportunities are there in green technologies? What ecological challenges does industry have to face? These questions will be addressed by leading industry experts in Panel 3 »Environmentally sustainable shipping – opportunities from technological innovation« at gmec 2010. They will give an overview of the various technological capabilities, from the current state of the art to visions for 2030.
»Zero pollution of the environment«
Panel 3 will be chaired by Spyros Polemis, Chairman of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS). The maritime industry’s vision of »Zero pollution of the environment« is also intended as an incentive for technical innovation. Spyros Polemis sees one of the best opportunities for reduction of carbon emissions in new building of green ships. »Regarding the fact that ships have a life cycle of 25 years, we need new ideas for long-term reduction of the carbon footprint of shipping.« Figures from the German Shipbuilding and Ocean Industries Association (VSM) reflect the potentials of the newbuilding business – in 2009 alone, some 1,300 ships of the world merchant fleet were scrapped. Although the newbuilding projects of the shipping lines were significantly cut back in the global economic crisis, order books still showed more than 9,000 ships in the same period, and more than 3,400 newbuilds were launched in 2009. »gmec 2010 is the first opportunity to exchange experience and best practice examples with leading industry representatives in a broad framework, and to raise awareness for current and future environmental improvements,« said Polemis, outlining the scope of the maritime environmental congress.
Raising awareness is also one of the aims pursued by Tor Svensen, Chief Operating Officer of the classification society Det Norske Veritas (DNV). As a speaker at Panel 3 of gmec 2010, he will stress the impact of ballast water on the marine eco-system. Although the impact of air emissions from shipping is more in the focus of public discussion, Tor Svensen believes that ballast water should get similar attention. He will address issues such as the development of zero-ballast ships and possibilities of ballast water cleaning on board.
Shipping of the future
In keeping with the subject of »Environmentally sustainable shipping«, the speakers in Panel 3 will give particular attention to the long-term character of technological innovations and solutions. Alongside the current potentials for reduction of CO2 emissions, Tor Svensen will also present a vision for 2030 – travelling through time into the technological future of shipping, which will be much cleaner then. New techniques already in use will be explained by Masahiro Samitsu, Corporate Officer and General Manager of the Environment Group of the Japanese shipping company NYK Line. It is one of the largest shipping companies in the world, with some 800 container and RORO ships and bulkers. He will present various technical innovations by the Japanese company at gmec 2010. For example, the NYK Line launched the first two ships with an air lubrication system in April this year. The air is injected between the ship’s hull and the water to reduce friction, and this is claimed to reduce energy consumption by 10 %. Masahiro Samitsu gives a visionary view of environmentally sustainable innovations of the future at gmec 2010, presenting the »NYK Super Eco Ship 2030«. This ambitious project envisages a reduction of up to 69 % of CO2 emissions. 2 % of this is achieved by photovoltaic energy, 4 % by wind energy, and 32 % by fuel cells. Panel 3 also includes Clay Maitland, Founder and Chairman of the North American Marine Environment Protection Association (NAMEPA) in New York City and Jamie Sweeting, Vice President Environmental Stewardship of the US/Norwegian cruise line Royal Caribbean International. Both of them will address the requirements for environmentally sustainable technologies in shipping from the viewpoint of environmental organisations and the cruise industry and explain why risk management and the interests of shareholders are in line with the interests of environmental protection.
Where the sea meets the land – the ship to port interface
What are the ecological effects of shipping on port cities, coastal regions, local and regional areas? How can the maritime industry, ports and regions work together to confront environmental problems? »Green« shipping is not restricted to the high seas – the industry leaves its footprint at goods handling centres and in the port hinterland as well. So gmec 2010’s Panel 4 casts light on the mutual interaction between sea and land, or between ships and ports.
Environmental guidelines improve air in ports while causing confusion at sea
Dr Matthias Ruete, the European Commission’s General Director for Mobility and Transport, speaks on gmec’s Panel 4 about toxic emissions at the ports. Two regulations currently determine the thematic agenda for the maritime industry – the EU’s Sulphur Directive for ships docking in ports, and the new sulphur limiting values for the North Sea and the Baltic recently passed by the IMO.
According to data supplied by the Verband Deutscher Reeder (VDR, the German Shipowners’ Association), the world’s trading fleet consists of nearly 53,000 ships. These consume something like 33 million tons of heavy oil every year, resulting in the emission of toxic materials like the sulphur oxides (SOx), nitric oxides (NOx) and carbon dioxide (CO2). These emissions have major implications for the people who live, work and take holidays in the ports and coastal regions. The EU’s »Sulphur Directive« addresses the problem – since 2010 this regulation has prescribed a sulphur limit of 0.1 % for ships that spend more than two hours docked in a European port. The directive has thus brought about a 70 % reduction in particle emissions at EU ports.
Further sulphur regulations for shipping, formulated by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), came into force on 1 July 2010 and determine a limiting value of 1 % for the North Sea and the Baltic. Both seas have been given special status by the IMO as »Sulphur Emission Control Areas« (SECAs). From 2015 these limiting values will be lowered once more – the use of marine diesel with just 0.1 % sulphur content will then become mandatory. On other European shipping routes – the Irish Sea, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea – the IMO is maintaining the globally applicable limiting values for sulphur content, currently 4.5 %. In 2012 this value will be reduced to just 3.5 %. The different limits that apply to different waters result in some curious situations. Whereas from 2012 ships on the west coast of England will be permitted to use fuel with a 3.5 % sulphur content, on England’s Baltic coast a 0.1 % limit must be observed. This kind of imbalance is hardly compatible with the idea of a common European market. National economies like those of Finland and Sweden, for example, are one-sidedly penalised with significantly higher transport costs, with serious implications for competitiveness.
Sulphur limits for the North Sea and the Baltic put »motorways of the sea« at risk
According to a study by the European Community Shipowners’ Association (ECSA), the sulphur directives for shipping routes in the North Sea and the Baltic could result in short-distance marine transport shifting back to the roads. This kind of development would be a contradiction of the ecological ideal of »motorways of the sea« which the EU supports. Emanuel Grimaldi, CEO of the Grimaldi Shipping Group and President of Malta Motorways of the Sea, is Chairman of Panel 4 and will discuss these topics.
The use of higher quality fuels, necessitated by the IMO’s sulphur requirements, will inevitably lead to an increase in freight costs. Based on data supplied in a study commissioned by ECSA and published just recently, MGO obligations in the shipping routes of the North Sea and the Baltic may be expected to increase costs by as much as 40 %. There are concerns that this could result in the return of freight shipments to the roads, as a more economical means of transport. While the study admits that the pollution caused by ships would indeed be reduced, the increase in freight transport on the roads would cancel out the positive effect altogether and could even lead to the cancellation of some regular line services. The consequence would be an even higher level of pollution than in the past, as the benefits of shipping as a means of bulk transport would no longer come into play.
For some time politicians have been promoting the transfer of surface transport operations to the sea, for ecological reasons. As early as 2001, the European Commission’s White Book on Transport recommended setting up »motorways of the sea«. The idea was that intermodal transport chains, based on short-distance maritime transport routes and involving rail and a viable supporting infrastructure, should grow to represent a competitive, and above all environmentally friendly alternative to transport by road. Numerous EU sponsorship schemes have supported the development of this kind of transport. As a result, some shipping companies have intensified their short-distance marine operations in recent years. In 2005, for example, the Italian Grimaldi Group founded Malta Motorways of the Sea Ltd. for transport operations between Spain, Italy, Tunisia and Libya.
Advantages and disadvantages of land power supplies
The use of low-emission liquid natural gas (LNG) and land power connections at the ports should improve the environmental balance of shipping operations. But frequently these ideas have fallen down in practice, in view of the expensive infrastructure upgrades required, the lack of global standards and high technological costs. Eddy Bruyninckx, Managing Director of the Antwerp Port Authority, will discuss the potential benefits and challenges of a land-based power supply.
An alternative way of reducing toxic emissions at the ports would be to set up the facilities for supplying ships with power from the land. Power out of the plug is one of the options currently under intensive discussion – based on this system, the power supplied from auxiliary diesel could be throttled or even reduced to zero. While some ports are already making use of this technological option, others remain sceptical. If power is to be supplied from the land, the ships first need to be converted – which is a costly business. Moreover the necessary infrastructure on land has to be created, and this is an investment that many ports still hesitate to make. One criticism that has been raised is that sulphur emissions will not really be reduced – they will only be shifted from the port to the hinterland where the power stations generate the electricity. Since as long ago as 2009, land power connections have been used at the Port of Antwerp with the aim of improving the quality of the air. The ports of Los Angeles and Lübeck rely on a land-based power supply likewise. Whereas the Californian port has a 6,600 volt supply, the Germans supply their ships with 10,000 volt. This discrepancy highlights yet another problem – we finally need to have consistent standards worldwide.
The use of liquid natural gas (LNG) has also recently come to be allowed in the shipping industry. Although LNG is significantly better for the environment – sulphur dioxide emissions are reduced by 100 %, nitric oxide emissions by up to 70 % and carbon dioxide by up to 25 % – here too there are many problems that need to be overcome. Not only will ships need to be based on new technology, a new form of supply logistics and new infrastructure will also have to be created at the ports.
Promotion of environmentally friendly goods handling technology
On the land side there have been numerous technical developments offering potential for the reduction of toxic emissions. This is an area for which the terminal operators bear special responsibility. Christian Maass, State Councillor for Urban Development and the Environment of the City of Hamburg, will speak on Panel 4 about sustainable technology and the potential for environmentally friendly developments at Germany’s biggest seaport.
Environmental pollution is increasingly being countered at the ports through the use of energy-efficient goods-handling technology. The Port of Hamburg is a pioneer in this field. For example, economical and driverless Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) are being used at the HHLA Container Terminal in Altenwerder for container transport operations. The vehicles run on diesel-electric power. AGVs are also currently being tried out that run on battery power and so have no exhaust gas emissions at all. Fork-lift trucks that are used at logistics centres are being made more ecological through the use of fuel cells and hydrogen. The Hamburg Port and Logistics Company plc (HHLA) is now using the world’s first ever van carrier with a power storage system. This technology makes it possible to reduce CO2 emissions by 25,000 kg per vehicle per year.
Disposal of ships’ waste at the ports
A further important requirement for the limitation of environmental pollution by shipping has just been formulated by the European Commission. This concerns the disposal of ships’ waste. Already years ago a cost coverage system based on the polluter pays principle was introduced for the disposal of ships’ waste at port collection facilities throughout the EU. This means that there are no further incentives for disguising ships’ waste at sea. All ships that put in to the port of a European member state must pay a kind of mandatory levy, irrespective of whether they actually make use of the waste disposal facilities or not. Alfons Guinier, General Secretary of the European Community Shipowners’ Association (ECSA), will speak on gmec’s Panel 4. As well as the challenges posed by the need to reduce emissions, he will also focus on waste disposal at the ports.
»Ship design for the Future«
In Panel 5 in an overview Bob Bishop will give a presentation about Human Factors and Ship design for the Future.
Ship design is going to have to take greater cognizance of the operating requirements of seafarers. Though generally less of them they require more skills sets to deal with greater automation and more demanding that the everyday benefits of home life are closer to hand on board the ship, and have to deal with the increasing regulation requirements of the public and their regulators. This presentation delivers what is needed to ensure environmental compliance by seafarers and what will need to be designed into ships of the future.
Bo Cerup Simonsen will describe opportunities and challenges with regard to future ship designs and operations as seen from the owner’s and operator’s perspective, some of the developments related to regulatory issues, customer demand and CRS. Then selected cases will, illustrate how investments are made complex due to regulations and technologies. Furthermore the cases show how innovations in operations as well as ship design can significantly elevate the environmental performance as well as the business performance in shipping.
A delicate item will be raised by Vince Jenkins: the potential for Nuclear Propulsion at Sea. Over the last few years there has been a renewed interest in the subject of nuclear propulsion in merchant ships. After a two years research project reviewing the level of interest, Lloyds Register have decided to revise and reissue classification rules for nuclear power vessels. Whilst there is considerable complexity in the subject of nuclear propulsion, there are a number of fundamental questions which the marine industry and delegates to the conference will have. The paper will first of all address the question of, »why is there a renewed interest in nuclear propulsion of merchant vessels«? It will then go on to discuss 4 further key questions associated with nuclear powered merchant vessels. These are
• Is nuclear propulsion safe?
• What would be the cost of such vessels?
• The acceptability of such vessels
• Are there any additional benefits to nuclear powered vessels other than not burning carbon based fuels?
The future of ship design is intended for naval architects, marine engineers and for professionals working with the development of newbuilding ship projects from first feasibility studies through project and contract design into planning, basic and detail design.
SMM/GF
